Dubuque Census participation ranks 37th nationally

Posted:
Friday, November 12, 2010 5:32 PM EST

DUBUQUE (KWWL) -- It's almost a new year and that means it's almost time to reveals Census 2010 results. But this year's census is already reflecting in large numbers. Participation is up in the City of Dubuque.

"We received participation rates from the us census bureau for our city and our county," Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens said.

And those numbers are standing out.

"For the city of Dubuque we were at 84 percent. Which ranked us 37th of 50 in the country for cities 50 thousand of higher," Carstens said.

And it's the highest ranked city in Iowa. But get this, this percentage only counts those who sent in a census form. Carstens says door to door census workers didn't count.

"And the county which kind of piggy backed on us had a 85 percent rate. So Dubuque County and Dubuque city did really well," Carstens said.

She credits the Census Bureau's marketing tactics this time around. But says there were a lot more resources available for this years census then the past.

"They had a lot of bilingual assistance for people who speak Spanish. We even had information for our marshaled population," Carstens said.

And of course, the fact that there were only ten questions on the form. But most importantly, she says high participation from residents in Dubuque could mean good things for the city ponces census results roll in.

"Very important for us for getting grants, for having programs here but also for how are we going to spend this money and where should we spend it," Carstens said.

Iowa finished in the top 5 for states with the highest percent of participation.